“People should not panic as chikungunya doesn’t kill”, he said, adding that some patients may however have other complications too.
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“People in north India haven’t been really exposed to thechikungunya strain compared to the population in the southernpart of the country, and therefore they are more vulnerable tothis viral attack”, Municipal Health Officer of SDMC, P KHazarika told PTI.He, however, said the probability of evolution of theviral strain will just be a speculation until scientistsestablish it. So far, we have not received any such requests from the Delhi government. The ASSOCHAM has cautioned the government that with increasing cases of chikungunya and dengue and the kind of negative reaction on the tourists, the traffic is set to drop drastically, leaving a bruising impact on businesses such as hotels, airlines, taxi operators, restaurants etc.
A senior official of the ministry had said that if somebody is already under treatment (for dialysis or under cancer treatment) and then the patient contracts chikungunya and dies, it is not considered a chikungunya death. Only doctors and scientists will be able to take a call on why they died.
The hospital reported five deaths due to multi-organ failure in chikungunya positive patients.
The first dengue death in the national capital was reported in July, at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, of a girl from Jafrabad in northeast Delhi.
“Earlier, the United Kingdom embassy had issued a health advisory on chikungunya sharing vital information about its symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and epidemiology”, said D S Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM. “The cause needs to be investigated”, said Dr Rana.
Till Wednesday, the national capital had reported nine deaths of people suffering from dengue.
“There was no outbreak after that and studies can’t be done in an artificial environment. The number of rising cases of chikungunya this year after the 2006 spike could be due to an evolution in its strain, which needs to be studied”, said Dhariwal.
The last dengue fatality reported was of Iram Khan (25), a native of Meerut, who lived in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi.
The latest person to succumb at Ganga Ram is a 75-year-old who had tested positive for chikungunya on Thursday morning.
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Indraprastha Apollo Hospital has also reported five deaths due to chikungunya, while All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Bara Hindu Rao Hospital reported two and one respectively.
